Nets fall in Chicago to Bulls, on brink of playoff elimination

CHICAGO - Though they've known the end has been near for a couple of weeks now, the Nets haven't helped themselves lately with mostly uninspired play.

The early part of Saturday's game was no different, as the Nets fell behind by 16 points in the first half and suffered a 103-94 loss to the Bulls that left them on the brink of elimination from the playoff race. They could be officially declared dead Sunday, if the Nets lose to the 76ers at home and the Pistons beat the Bobcats in Detroit.

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The Nets did rally to make a game of it in the third quarter, and despite playing the fourth without Vince Carter, held a one-point lead with less than three minutes left.

But the game took a nasty turn for the Nets moments after Brook Lopez's hook shot gave them a 94-93 lead with 2:50 to go. Following a pair of free throws by Brad Miller that put Chicago up 95-94 with 1:49 left, Devin Harris was stripped by John Salmons near midcourt. After running back up the court and receiving a pass from Derrick Rose, Salmons was taken down from behind by Harris, who was whistled for a flagrant foul despite trying to soften the blow by holding onto Salmons.

Salmons missed one of the two free throws, but the Bulls had a two-point lead and the ball. Following a timeout, Ben Gordon drained a back-breaking 3-pointer. After Keyon Dooling missed a 3-point try seconds later for the Nets, Gordon sank two foul shots to put the Bulls up by seven with 25 seconds left.

Harris said he has "seen worse" calls, but acknowledged his foul on Salmons changed the game.

"You can't really do anything about it now," Harris said. "I didn't think it was that hard of a foul."

Carter sat out the final quarter because of an injury to his left Achilles. He was mostly ineffective before shutting it down, missing eight of 10 shots and finishing with just four points. It was Carter's second straight game playing small forward following a lineup change by Lawrence Frank.

Gordon led the Bulls (37-40) with 18 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Salmons added 17 points and Rose had 15.

The Nets trailed by 10 late in the third period but cut the deficit to 73-69 heading into the fourth. But after the Nets pulled to within one early on consecutive baskets by Jarvis Hayes and Chris Douglas-Roberts, the Bulls went on a 6-0 spurt to go up by 81-74.

After the teams traded buckets, the Nets got to within 83-82 when Hayes hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.

A Nets turnover led to a Gordon three with 5:44 left that put Chicago up 88-84, but just over a minute later, the Nets tied the game at 88 on Anderson's layup.

With 3:22 left, Lopez made a layup while being fouled and completed the three-point play to pull the Nets to within one. Thirty-two seconds later, Lopez's hook shot put the Nets in front, but not for long.

With six games left and virtually no chance of making the playoffs, the Nets still think they have much to play for.

"These young guys are learning a lot," said Carter, referring to Lopez, Anderson and Douglas-Roberts, "It's going to pay off for us next year."